In the Midwest.

Thompson To Ask 10% Tax Cut

February 16, 1999|By From Tribune News Services.

MADISON, WISCONSIN — The governor's upcoming state budget proposal will include breaks for all taxpayers and a "significant" income tax cut targeted at the middle class, the Assembly's top Republican said Monday.

Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen (R-Waukesha) said Gov. Tommy Thompson will propose an income tax break Tuesday that would exceed the 1999 cut he and fellow Republicans promised during the fall campaign.

While seeking his fourth, four-year term, Thompson promised to cut income taxes 10 percent over five years.

That plan would mean a reduction of $103 for the average taxpayer earning about $32,000 annually on this year's income taxes, said the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

He will seek an income tax cut that would aim much of the relief at families earning $30,000 to $70,000 a year, Jensen said.

Thompson spokesman Kevin Keane said the budget plan would include the 10 percent, five-year income tax cut, but taxpayers would get a bigger share of the relief in 1999 and 2000 than originally planned.